Beauty Within………….The Art of Living After a hectic day of photo shoots, fittings, make-ups and a lot of hustle-bustle the finalists of the Ponds Femina Miss India Uttar Pradesh found a welcome change relaxing in meditations and pranayaams in a profound session conducted by senior Art of Living teachers Smt. Manju Narain Ji and Shri Tanuj.

The ever so attentive audience were at rapt attention at the insights offered by the learned instructors and were enthusiastically participating with their questions ranging from the practical ‘ How to get rid of negativity ?” to the more philosophical “ what is the purpose of my life ?” demonstrating a maturity far beyond their age.

“ Felt like my soul was breathing……..was feeling vibrations in my entire body from Head to toe “said Ruchita Rao one of the finalists.

“ I could relate to my body and mind after a long time. I could find happiness inside me . Loved every bit of the session”, commented Gunjan Saini ,while profusely thanking the Art of Living and the Femina team for having been so considerate to organised this wonderful session.

“My outlook on life has changed …………… I am already a more positive person”, observed Manasvi while Prachi Mishra had a realisation of inner beauty after a guided meditation conducted by Shri Tanuj which focussed on the inner radiance present in every human being.

“ Let your inner beauty shine through “ was the parting comment offered by the Art of living teacher Manju ji and the eager participants were all set and ready to make it happen……….

We are all floating in the effulgence of one scintillating unseen cosmic energy called the ‘Devi’. The Devi or the Divine Mother is the womb of all creation. She is the seed of all dynamism, radiance, beauty, equanimity, peace and nourishment. She is the life force energy.

A mother has total love for her child. The Divine Mother has unconditional and unquantifiable love for Her children which includes every being in this entire creation.

Remembering names and forms of Devi

During the nine nights of Navratri, the Devi is worshiped in all Her names and forms. Names have a significance. We remember a sandalwood tree by the memory of its perfume. Each name and form of the Devi refers to a specific quality or attribute of the Divine. By remembering the form or by chanting the many names of Devi, we enliven those qualities in our consciousness and they manifest in us according to the need of the hour.

Navratri is a journey from the outer world of names and forms to the subtle world of energies, invoked through the various yagnas, to the innermost core of our being – the Self.

Warding off negativities and mental blocks

The first three days celebrate the Devi in the form of Durga. Durga also means hill. A very difficult task is often described as an uphill task. In the presence of Durga, negative forces fade away. Difficulties find it difficult to exist in Her presence! The goddess is depicted as riding a lion or tiger as her mount, alluding to the aspect of courage and valor which are the essence of Devi Durga.

TheNava Durga are the nine aspects of Durga energy which act like a shield to ward off all negativities. When you have obstacles and mental blocks, just remembering these qualities of the Devi, can cure the mental blocks. Especially in the case of people suffering from anxiety, doubting oneself, doubting one’s ability, ‘lack’ consciousness, feeling threatened by enmity and negativity – simply by chanting the names of the Devis, it is like mantras that elevate your consciousness and you can become more centered, courageous and composed. This is the significance of the aspect of the Divine as Devi Durga.

The Devi Durga, in Her form as Mahishasuramardhini, is the destroyer of Mahisha. The word Mahishameans buffalo which is a symbol of laziness, lethargy, and inertia. These are the qualities which impede the spiritual and material progress of an individual. The Devi is a storehouse of positive energy and any trace of laziness or inertia dissolves in Her very presence.

The second set of three days honor the Devi as Lakshmi. Lakshmi is goddess of wealth and prosperity. Wealth is a vital ingredient bestowed upon us for the maintenance and progress in our life. It is much more than just having money. It means abundance in knowledge, skills and talents. Lakshmi is the energy that manifests as the complete spiritual and material well-being of a person.

The final three days are dedicated to Saraswati. Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge- the one who gives the essence (sara) of the Self (swa). She is often depicted as being seated on a rock. Knowledge, like a rock, is a steadfast support. It stays with us at all times. She plays the veena, a musical instrument whose mellifluous notes bring harmony and peace to the mind. Similarly, spiritual knowledge brings relaxation and celebration into ones’ life.

Goddess Saraswati is the ocean of understanding and the consciousness which vibrates with different types of learning. She is the source of spiritual light, remover of all ignorance and the source of knowledge.

Attaining the Ultimate Offering to Divine Mother

While worshiping the Devi in her various names and forms, we offer flowers in a multitude of hues and fragrances like jasmine, hibiscus, lotus, lilies, rose, and so on. From the outer beauty, as we turn our focus inward and are soaked in the divine attributes, our consciousness flowers. We offer our blossomed consciousness too. Worshiping Her through the blossomed consciousness is the ultimate offering.

The Divine Mother is the unfathomable, infinite, supreme, pure consciousness. A child does not try to know the mother. The child simply has faith in her. In the same way, having faith in the Divine Mother is the source of the greatest strength. It is a great wealth and a blessing.

Navratri is a time for us to soak in this blessing, relax in the depth of our being and feel grateful for the abundance and beauty in our lives.

The writer is the sister of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, meditation teacher, and Director of Women and Child Welfare programs of The Art of Living.

Don’t make an effort to see the divinity in someone. Divine contains all the qualities. You have a concept of divinity in your mind as someone gentle and nice and then someone is not gentle, you don’t see them as divine. Divinity consists of all the opposites because divinity is totality. So see the whole world as a play, as a drama then you will be able to give a big laugh.

Q:Guruji, tell me what to do with my ego. It is disturbing me so much in my life.Sri Sri:Just give a big hug to your ego. Let it be there. Why do you worry about the ego? Why do you want to get rid of it? First lesson in art of living is accepting. Whatever you don’t accept will be on your neck….will be bothering you. Accept and it will stop bothering you. Wake up and look at the whole universe.
Wake up to the fact that time is enormous. Time is infinite and see that in contrast with your life. These 60-70-80 years of your life is so insignificant in this vast ocean of time, then what is ego, where is ego? You are nothing. You are nobody; you are so insignificant in this planet. The planet will go on. 6 billion / 6 and a half billion people like ants dying and again being born. So what! Who cares whether you live or die …it’s all finished.
Anyway it’s going to be finished in a few years. Now the environmentalists are even warning you. The word will end in 2012 or 2013. Another five years to the planet. Scientists are saying water is going to go up, sea level is going to rise. Many countries in the world are in danger. Where is your ego? What is your ego?
Wake up and see this whole existence. If you can’t, if you are little sleepy, drowsy then just make friends with your ego. Keep it. Oh I want to have a big one. Let it be there. Grow your ego as much as you want. Don’t fight it. When you wake up and see it dissolves. If you don’t want to wake up, sleep with your ego. Keep it hold it tightly. There is no problem.
In between when you feel you have an ego and want to get rid of it that’s when all the problems come. Just be natural. Being natural is the antidote for ego or agree to be foolish. Why can’t you be foolish? You’re anyway foolish. When you are not conscious then somebody anyway calls you foolish. Because if there are some people who are more intelligent than you…in their eyes you are anyways foolish. If you consciously agree to be a fool this trouble of yours will disappear.
I think it’s an important role that everyone should play in their life. Act being foolish for some time….then you will not be afraid of someone calling you a fool. Biggest armor for ego is it doesn’t want to be called a fool by anybody. So if in your eyes you are a fool the ego has evaporated. That’s it or it has expanded…. limitless.
I think that’s the best thing. In your own eyes….you know in your heart that you are a fool, but you don’t accept. You don’t agree with it. You don’t want to exhibit, show that you are foolish. One day act being a thorough fool. You will see you are free from this ego troubling you day and night. Be a buffoon.
Just for a day and then you will be so natural. No point in being a buffoon in closed doors…out in the streets. There should be hundreds of people seeing you being a buffoon…and call ‘Hey fool’ be a laughing stock of people even for a day you will find yourself at peace.

Q:How can I know when my action is right? Maybe it is better to wait and let things happen in their own time?Sri Sri:You have a question. You have the answer. How do you know when action is right? Wait for its result. Some results will show immediately. Some results will come in it’s own time. What all you need to see is whether your intention is correct. If your intention is right, action will always be directed. But if in the intention there is something wrong, even though the action seems to be good at face value it is not going to yield good results.

Q:Thank you Guruji. I saw you getting out of the car smiling today. At that moment I felt love for life and you. What to do to feel like that all the time?Sri Sri:Treasure those moments in your heart. Don’t crave for them. Craving will be an impediment but treasuring those memories will be of real value. In life you get few moments where the spark gets ignited, where the fountain bursts open, that initial moment when the fountain bursts open is so important so beautiful. If a fountain is running for several hours you don’t pay attention.
Same way moment you jump into hot tub the first moment is really the thrill. If you are remaining for 5-10 minutes you don’t feel it any more. Those initial moments of contrast are so valuable. Those moments are to be treasured.

Q:How can I get courage to reach my goal ?Sri Sri: First of all, you think you don’t have courage ? You simply have to know you don’t know what you have! If you think you don’t have your trying to have it is not going to work. Next thing, know you have it. You have the courage. Even then you can’t do it. You have fear. Know you are not alone. The divine is with you….a greater force is your great strength. Ok?

Q: What happens when people die. Where do we go after that?Sri Sri:We will take up this tomorrow.

Q: Guruji what is infinity ?
Sri Sri: << >>. That is it !!!! Where words cannot touch, words and thoughts return that is infinity. That’s why in Sanskrit they said infinity is truth and knowledge ” Satyam Gyanam Anantam” God is infinite.

Q: Guruji, of the five elements , two are male (fire and air), two are female (earth and water) so what is space ?Sri Sri: Space is neutral (laughter) Actually this is just one form of understanding. This is beyond gender. Mother earth is represented as female again akash (space) cannot be classified as any gender, but we have to look beyond this. Don’t get caught up with this.

Q: when do we know we are becoming a deciple from a devotee?Sri Sri: Next !!

Q:Guruji, to ask you an intelligent question, we need to plan. It does not happen spontaniously. How does one balance spontaneity and planning?Sri Sri: This is spontaneous !! (laughter) but you can be planned an yet be spontaneous. This intelligence is to be spontaneous and yet be planned. Ignorant one gets caught up in planning and there fore losses spontaneity.

Question : Guruji, when does doubt rise in love ?
Guruji : you know doubting is the nature of the mind. For e.g . when someone says you are too good, we start doubting. When some one says oh you are no good, than you don’t doubth that. You doubt your happiness n=but you dongt doubt your probl;ems. You have to simply understand that life is love and love is not just an emotion, it is your very existence.

Q:Dear Guruji, how to protect myself against negative emotions of other people. I’m very sensitive and quickly overwhelmed by negative emotions of other people.Sri Sri:Know you are such a positive person that any negative emotion comes you turn it into a positive. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be scared of others negative emotions. You don’t know. It can come to you anytime…waking, dreaming or sleeping. But it doesn’t affect you when you are sleeping, does it? Because you don’t know, when you are sleeping any negative emotions from anywhere in the world can pass through you.
You have the ability to transform negativity into positivity. You are much more than negative and positive emotions. Nothing can touch you. A cloud cannot do anything to a rock. Be like a rock. Emotions are like clouds they come and caress the stone and move away.
No rock on top of a mountain is scared of a cloud saying ‘Oh dark clouds are coming. Or white clouds – O I love them!’ Be solid. You are radiating sun. You radiate energy. The negativities are like clouds. Observe it…know it.
Someone is angry and they pass by, their anger catches onto your mind. You feel that anger is welling up inside.. watch it as a cloud. Laugh at it or take a deep breath and say ‘Hmmmm’. But don’t keep doing it all day. ‘O negative energy is coming so I am going to say Hmmm’. They will send you to a mental hospital. Look at anybody and say ‘Hmmmm’.
You observe….watch. You will see emotions come for a second and vanish. When they seem to grip you take a couple of deep breaths and sometimes make Hmmm noise you will see it has transformed, vanished. Don’t be scared of others negativities.

Q:Advaita and bhakti we need both in daily life. How can we effectively incorporate this in daily life even though they seem contradictory?Sri Sri:Life is full of contradictions. …sometimes you eat cold ice cream, sometimes you want hot tea. If you ask me how can I eat cold ice cream and hot tea, both are a part of life. You want both, sometimes this…sometimes that.
In the same way it happens in your life naturally and that’s how it is in nature. On the atomic level there is only one thing “the whole universe is made up of one substance but on the molecular level they are different, there is duality”.
Molecules are a reality. The diversity is a reality. When you go further deep into diversity you find the uniformity. There is union, the oneness of atoms. That is also a reality.
The oneness of sub-atomic particles is a reality and diversity of molecular structure is also a reality….they coexist at the same place, at the same time. In the same way, Bhakti and love and devotion can co-exist with awareness. It is all one…because bhakti and devotion is not an action. It is a state of mind, not an emotion. Bhakti is the nature of one’s being. It is a pinnacle of emotion and the nature of one’s self, so that doesn’t vanish, though it is experienced in duality more vividly. As reality it dos not contradict the oneness or Advaita.

Q:If everything is changing what is it that which is untouched, permanent?
Sri Sri:Everything is impermanent. This is what is now…and only then you can know. It is easy to know, to see that things are impermanent. So when this understanding becomes clear then you see the reference point by which
you see change. There has to be a reference point which is not changing in order to know everything is changing. If everything is changing, there is no way to know unless there is something that does not change. When you know everything is changing, and then turn inward you will see that there is something so unique…so beautiful that does not change.
It is an indirect experience. Adi Shankara, the exponent of Advaita philosophy called it aparokshanubhuthi – indirect experience. Paroksha means indirect. Anubhoothi – the non indirect experience. You can’t directly experience and not indirectly. It is neither this nor that, you can neither catch it nor miss it. Nobody can miss it. Yet nobody can catch it. That is the real mystery and that is what life is all about.
[Nobody can say that I have never slept in my life, yet no one can say I know sleep. It is in your experience yet you do not know it. That one thing is sleep…that one thing which causes the sleep, which is in sleep and which enables you to wake up from sleep is the self. That is even more a mystery, without which you can’t exist. There is no existence at all and yet it is not felt or known. Through knowledge, through grace, that is self knowledge.

Q: Guruji, Why am I not like you?
Sri Sri: This is my wonder too!! But I feel you are like me. If you look from my point of view you will see we are not different. You and me are not separate. Can air be like yours cand mind? Like can you say this is my air and that is your air?!?! No! Sunlight, water, cannot be two. The one which you think is yours and mine actually they are not separate.

Q: Guruji, can you please explain the meaning of Gyatri mantra?
Sri Sri: Oh! Gyatri mantra encompases the whole universe. There are 24 letters that make gyatri mantara. There are 24 vertebra in our spinal cord. One is omkar, two becomes So hujm, then like wise 16 and then 24 becomes Gyatri Mantara. Gyatri Mnatra is the expansion of that one omkar. If one is instructedyou can can certainly chant the mntra. The meaning of the gyatri mantra is let the divinity sink through my intellect. Let our life be purified. But again if you just say Ohm, that also means the same.

Q: Guruji, this mandap is like a Srichakra. Can you explain the essence of Srichakra?Sri Sri: It is nice no?!?! Then just sit and meditate. Why do you wantto know the meaning and the essence etc!?? I myself don’t know the meaning!! (laughter!!)

Q: Guruji, the imbalances in the body, (vata,pitta, kapha) causes a lot of other problems. How does one handle the vata Imbalance?Sri Sri: Consult a Ayurvedic doctor, and triphala, it will bal;ance the imbalance. Also drink a lot of water. Eat food on time. Do asanas do pranayama, do Sudarshan Kriya. All this will help.

Q: Swami Ramakrishna had said that Vivekananda will have to go once he comes to know who he was. How did he know this?Sri Sri: No no that is not correct. It is not like that.

Q: Why did God do this to the children?Sri Sri: Will put up a complain against God. Sometimes because of improper food this may happen.

Q: Guruji, when interest starts developing towards devotion, what should one do?Sri Sri: Good. Very good. But simultaneously you must take care of the responsibilities as well. One should not run away.

Q: Guruji, we are asking you questions everyday. Can you please let us know what have we missed out on asking you!?!Sri Sri: You should only have one question. “Who am I?” And that question you should ask yourself. That question itself is good enough to get that dive in you to go inward.

Q: Guruji, is it ok to donate some body parts after we die?Sri Sri: Yes.. yes. It is definitely ok.

Q: (Question asked by a physically challenged person) Guruji, what is moksha?Sri Sri: Good .. good very good!! The desire to know what is moksha is a good thing. Are you doing better now? Yes! Wow!! How much better do you feel now? 75% Wow!! Very good!!

Q: Guruji, how do you become more disciplined?Sri Sri: Be less feverish. If you are attached to the benefits then you become feverish. But when you have a commitment, then you automatically become more discipline.

Q: Guruji what is prarubdha?Sri Sri: I have spoken about it in ‘Intimate note to a sincere seeker’.

Q: Guruji is it necessary to go to temples periodically? Does not worship happen when we are doing seva and meditation?Sri Sri: Yes yes seva is a form of worship.

Q: Guruji, can you tell us about the swami who is sitting next to you?
Sri Sri: Swami yogananda ji is 99 years old. He does wonderful yoga. His teeth, his eyes, his stomach, everything is perfect. He has been with Bhagat singh, during those times.. He wants to live for more 100 years. Ask him what he eats, and he will tell you, you should eat only once. (laughter!!)

Q: Guruji you have given so many techniques. Are techniques important to pursue in the path?Sri Sri: The root meaning of the word technique is ‘tantra’ these techniques are there to help one overcome obsession and other things in the mind It is not just a way of life.

Q: Guruji, we have so many profound experiences. What is its significance of experiences in our life?Sri Sri: Don’t spent so much on your experiences so much on your experiences. Commitment is more important. There is a connection between the mind and the mood etc. Like the moon waxes and wanes you experience feelings accordingly. Pleasant feelings come and go, unpleasant feelings come and go Who cares how you feel? Love is your very existence. Love is not just an emotion. Don’t get caught up with feelings. Become strong. Your smile should be so strong you know. How many of you feel really strong? Many of you could not relate to the person who you were before? Is n’t it?

Q: What should be our goal in life? What does this hall (Referring to Vishalakshi Mantap) signify?Sri Sri: Goal in life? Good question. Its good for you to ponder. This hall (laughter!!) Tell me something, you come from the city how do you feel after coming inside this hall? You feel energetic, yeh you feel good right? That’s the objective. That’s the significance of this hall.

Q: Guruji, we are always smiling since the time we met you. How do we spread this smile around?Sri Sri: You have to talk to people. Bring people to knowledge.

Q: Guruji what is the difference God and Guru?Sri Sri:God is like space, and space is everywhere. Inside you there is space, inside me there is space. God is the space ok let me put it in this way. There are electromagnetic waves. But you cannot actually see them right? But you can experience through television. Do you see what I am saying? The electromagnetic waves manifest in the form of television. You can only see the sky through the window. You cannot see the sky if there is a closed wall!! Can you? No. We are all made up of love and the guru is the embodiment of love. That’s why they say, God, atman, Guru, self are all one and the same. That means we don’t have to worry about anything. You simply become compassionate and spread love.and smile.]

Q: How to get out of entanglements?Sri Sri: By doing pranayamas, sudarshan kriya, meditation. Because when you do these your vision expands and the smaller things drop away.

Q: Around the Guru, there are always distractions. How to overcome these?Sri Sri: The moment you recognize that you have got distracted, then you have started coming back to the source. So when you are here for meditation and you feel like doing something else, know that you are moving away from knowledge, the Guru.and when you recognize that, you become focused again.